Jason Statham is set to find himself going face-to-face with his most fearsome foe this summer as he takes on a 75-foot megalodon shark in The Meg, an adaptation of Steve Alten’s book Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror, and during an interview with EW, The Stath has discussed the movie’s franchise potential.
“I think it’s like anything in this day and age — if it makes money, there’s obviously an appetite to make more money. And if it doesn’t do well, they’ll soon sweep it under the carpet. But that’s the way Hollywood works. Everyone tries to make a good film, and it lies in the hands of the audience. People are the ultimate decider; the audience is the decider of whether anything gets to be a sequel or not.”
Statham also went on to discuss his role in the movie, where he plays diver Jonas Taylor: “He gets brought in to save the crew at the bottom of the ocean that’s confronted with this 75-foot shark. Taylor encountered this shark many years ago, but everyone thought he was crazy. Turns out, everybody was wrong!”
SEE ALSO: Shark Attack: A Deep Dive Into Cinema’s Sinister Obsession
SEE ALSO: Watch the trailer for The Meg here
A deep-sea submersible—part of an international undersea observation program—has been attacked by a massive creature, previously thought to be extinct, and now lies disabled at the bottom of the deepest trench in the Pacific…with its crew trapped inside. With time running out, expert deep sea rescue diver Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) is recruited by a visionary Chinese oceanographer (Winston Chao), against the wishes of his daughter Suyin (Li Bingbing), to save the crew—and the ocean itself—from this unstoppable threat: a pre-historic 75-foot-long shark known as the Megalodon. What no one could have imagined is that, years before, Taylor had encountered this same terrifying creature. Now, teamed with Suyin, he must confront his fears and risk his own life to save everyone trapped below…bringing him face to face once more with the greatest and largest predator of all time.
The Meg is set for release on August 10th and features a cast that includes Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Wintson Chao, Cliff Curtis, Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose, Robert Taylor, Masi Oka, Jessica McNamee, Page Kennedy, Olafur Darri Olafsson and Sophia Shuya Cai.
